Boyd K. Packer - Teach Ye Diligently

To fully appreciate this book, there are some things you should know about Elder Boyd K. Packer.

Elder Packer was born September 10, 1924, in Brigham City, Utah, the tenth in a family of eleven. The fact that there were many brothers and sisters to welcome Boyd Kenneth to the family of Ira and Emma Jensen Packer made a significant difference in his life. Those who know the Packer family attest that few families are so united.

From his father he inherited his ready wit and keen sense of humor. From his little Danish mother he inherited a deep spirituality. She taught him some simple lessons: that if you are living righteously and are prayerful, you have the right to live by the Spirit. Those close to him know he learned this lesson well.

He learned early to love natureand he still does. He loves animals and especially birds. Outside a large window he provides a feeder for quail and pheasants during the winter, and hangs a feeder for hummingbirds during the summer. He knows the names and habits of all the birds of this area and many of the exotic ones. He can describe or draw them. He will point out a hawk in the sky and say, "That is a goss hawk. You can tell by its swift, graceful wings, and its long tail feathers."

At their home his children have all of the usual kinds of petsdogs, rabbits, horses, chickens, ducksbut at the present time no cats. Cats and birds do not mixproperly. And he likes birds better than cats.

Elder Packer is an artist. I wish all of you could see his home. His handiwork, evident in every room, bespeaks his love of the beautiful, the good, and the appropriate. He is a carver of wood. He paints and draws. He molds and sculpts. He mounts various birds. He painted the portraits on the cover and did all of the illustrations in this book.

He has tremendous powers of concentration and capacity for work. He finishes quickly whatever he starts. He has an unusually keen mind. No one yet has plumbed the depths of this man.

One of the reasons his mind ranges on so many different interests and covers so wide a scope is because this was encouraged in his childhood home. His hands are always busy. He thinks better when he is creating something. I have heard him say, "I'm going to work on a carving tonight. I think better when I do that."

His children have inherited this artistic talent. Their home abounds with homemade objects of both beauty and utility, made by each of the children.

Elder Packer's hobbies and interests are all home-centered. His total life is centered in his home and family. Part of this comes from the example in his father's home. He measures the value of all other activities by the effect they will have on his family. Nothing takes precedence over his commitment to his home and family. Nothing! He understands that as a gospel commitment.

He understands the gospel well. His serious gospel study began during World War II when he was a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He took with him his servicemen's copy of the Book of Mormon. It was read numerous times and marked thoroughly. This book has had a profound influence upon the life of Elder Packer.

There is one source of inspiration available to Elder Packer that is not available to anyone else. That is Donna. She has been his strength in a quiet and sustaining way. She won his heart when she was Box Elder County Peach Days Queen. In all the years I have known him, I have seldom heard him refer to Donna in any other way than "my bride." She is the one who has borne their ten childrenand borne much of the responsibility of rearing them, due to his call as "special witness." She it is who is his sweetheart, his friend, and his quiet support. Because of her he can say, with complete honesty, "I know there are families where parents can live together in love without a single argument for thirty years and more."

The ten children born to this couple have provided some of the greatest learning experiences in his life. He has said, "All that I have ever learned that has been most worthwhile, I have learned from my children."

Elder Packer has been successful in his chosen field of education. He received an associate of science degree from Weber College and the bachelor of science and master of science degrees in education from Utah State University. He holds a doctor of education degree from Brigham Young University.

He taught seminary for six years. His teaching abilities were recognized and he was appointed as supervisor of seminaries and institutes of religion. He also served on the administrative council of Brigham Young University.

Of all the fields in which he excels, it is as a teacher that he is a master among men. I know of no man who is his superior in teaching a gospel concept. He is blessed with unusual gifts. He has the capacity to translate an ethereal verbal concept to an understandable activity in everyday life. He understands the principles of teaching and their practical application as the Savior taught.

We are fortunate that he has now made available these principles of successful teaching. This book is written to parents as well as to all other teachers. This is important since parents are the most influential of all teachers. In this book all can learn principles that will qualify them to carry out the injunction of the Savior, "... teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you...." (D&C 88:77-78.)

Elder Packer's words are simple, common words. Most of us know and understand them. He could have used the jargon of the educator, but as usual, he deliberately kept the words as simple as possible. That is why it is so readable. You will soon discover that what is explained so clearly and obviously was neither clear nor obvious before he explained it. This is the contribution of this book. It becomes a resource, a library to which we can return again and again to get ideas and help for both teaching and living.

This is a unique book on the art of teaching. No one has done before what he has done. Elder Packer has tackled not only the most difficult of all subjectsthe art of teachingbut has added another dimension of difficulty in the process, how to teach moral and spiritual values. He has succeeded because he has unfolded, clearly and well, how the Master did the same thing.

ELDER A. THEODORE TUTTLE

First Council of the Seventy

CHAPTER ONE

Early in World War II a company that specialized in the manufacture of lenses for optical equipment received a large order from the government for special lenses to be used in bombsights. The relatively few lenses they ordinarily produced were hand-polished by one master craftsman who had learned his art in Europe as a youth. It would be manifestly impossible for him to polish even a fraction of the lenses that were already on order.